


Individual Eternities

by 2by4



Series: Infallible Heroes [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Discussion of Abortion, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mpreg, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:54:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8172289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2by4/pseuds/2by4
Summary: If you have the time, please take a moment  to leave a comment.





	

The charity gala was in full swing and Bruce was dutifully playing his role of billionaire playboy alpha on the prowl. He had a pretty beta supermodel hanging off his arm and he not-so-subtly flirted with every unbound omega to cross his path, while schmoozing potential business partners and charity donors. He was laughing too hard at this own jokes and sloshing around the glass of champagne in his hand, seemingly his fourth but really just the same one he’d been using as a prop all night.

He was slowly counting down the minutes until he could slip out and move to more important things, namely donning the Batman cape and cowl and going on his nightly patrol of the city. He preferred his work as Batman over just about every other aspect of his life, but if the didn’t play his role as Bruce Wayne properly, he wouldn’t be able to fund his work as Batman. Attending social events like this were a necessary inconvenience.

Five minutes until the time he planned to make his escape, the doors to the banquet hall all but flew open.

Bruce looked up, half expecting trouble in the form of one of Gotham City’s many criminals looking to make a quick buck by robbing rich guests of the gala, but instead was greeted by the vaguely familiar face of Mrs. Janet Drake.

Bruce recognized her only because Drake Industries was the second largest business in Gotham City and she was CEO, the seat given to her as part of her omega husband’s dowry. They weren’t business rivals really, but they did run in the same circles. Despite which, they’d never been formally introduced, because Janet and her husband were almost always out of the country.

Janet Drake’s sharp gaze flitted around the room until it landed on Bruce and morphed into a vicious glare that almost made Bruce nervous. Perhaps trouble had come, just not in the form of a criminal? She crossed the room in quick steps, her son being dragged along behind her and her husband rushing to keep pace.

By time she reached him, her vicious expression had melted into a cold, but outwardly pleasant smile. “Mr. Wayne,” she greeted, “just the man I was hoping to see tonight.” She tugged on her son’s arm until the boy took a stumbling step forward.

Bruce’s nostrils flared and the room took on a red tinge as the alpha in him surged forward with a growl. His eyes slid off the formidable woman to the boy next to her. It took all of his training in self-control to fight down his instincts, because he wanted nothing more than to pull the boy into his arms and sink his teeth into his neck to reaffirm the fading bond that was already there.

“Mrs. Drake,” Bruce returned the greeting, though his gaze was still fixed on her son. Out the corner of his eye, Bruce saw Vicki Vale circling like the media vulture she was, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the Drake boy (his bonded omega!) for longer than a second.

The familiar earthy scent of pregnant omega was wafting from the boy and anyone with any kind of common sense would recognize Bruce’s reaction to him for what it was: an alpha fighting the urge to reinstate claim over an omega too long from his side. There was no doubt in his mind that “rumors” about Bruce Wayne bonding with an omega from the Drake family would be all over the media by morning.

Bruce let out a carefully controlled breath. “How about we talk in private?” He wasn’t so much worried about what the media had to say, he’d just prefer the exact details of how the bond came about not be made public.

Part of him wished that he could forget what had happened on that rooftop nine weeks ago; wished that the cloud of chemicals that had taken away his control had also taken away the memory of his actions. But the larger part of him was glad to not have the crutch of amnesia; glad that he hadn’t been able to go on living as if it had never happened.

When he’d woken up alone on an unfamiliar rooftop, he’d been struck by the weight of what he’d done. Not just what he’d done that night, but what he’d been doing every night since he’d buried Jason. He realized just how much he was spiralling out of control, how much he was losing himself in his grief and becoming the same kind of monster he fought every night.

He’d watched the sun rise over the city he’d sworn to protect, knowing that somewhere out there was a young boy he’d already failed, and he’d vowed to either correct the path he was on or hang up his cowl forever. He’d stumbled home with a heavy heart, haunted by the memory of fearful blue eyes on a too young face staring up at him, and the hollow ghost of a newly formed bond already weakening in the back of his mind.

Breathing in a lungful of the scent of the omega before him brought that bond to the front of his mind and it was growing stronger each second he stood in the boy’s presence. More than anything, Bruce felt shame, though he could not let that show. The boy, and how terrible was it that Bruce had already bonded and impregnated him and yet did not know his name, would not look at him.

He probably remembered the night on the rooftop even more vividly than Bruce did. It had undoubtedly been the boy’s first heat and he’d had himself forced upon by a wild man in a mask. Traumatized probably didn’t begin to cover it.

Bruce had kept his cowl on the whole time, he knew that for certain. And when he’d woken up after losing consciousness, his cowl had still been in place with no sign of it ever having been removed. Bruce had been sure that the boy had not known it was Bruce Wayne behind the mask, had thought he’d opted to run away the first chance he got instead of sticking around to see who’d done this to him.

Bruce had tried to find him. He’d searched hospitals and clinics, had tried to follow the too weak bond between them, and had even revisited the scene of his crime and searched the surrounding areas, but to no avail. He’d been unable to find the young stranger who’d suffered under his hand. He’d waited for some news outlet to report on it, because surely he’d have told someone Batman had assaulted him.

 _Assaulted_. By law, the forceful bonding of an omega was not considered rape and was only considered assault if the omega was somehow irreparably damaged in a way that lowered their value to their family and if the assaulting alpha was unable to offer an acceptable bride price to make up for loss of value. Honestly, omegas were treated like little more than living property, evidenced by the way they could be bought and sold with bride prices and dowries.

If the Drakes had had an alpha son instead of an omega, Bruce would be facing prison time for his actions. Even a beta victim could have brought him up on criminal charges. But the law continued to fail omegas by repeatedly ruling it impossible to rape an omega, especially one in heat. But just because they didn’t call it “rape” didn’t mean that wasn’t what it was. Calling it by another name did not take away the nature of the crime.

For years, Bruce had supported anyone and everyone trying to get those arcane laws overthrown. The fact that those laws were protecting him now only added to his shame.

He had never thought the boy would find him. The bond between them had grown steadily weaker as time passed until it had gotten so thin, Bruce had almost managed to convince himself that it had broken. That was more than wishful thinking, that had been his heartfelt prayer every night since the incident, because the only way the bond wouldn’t break after so much time apart was if he’d gotten the boy pregnant. He’d prayed that he hadn’t ruined the kid’s life like that. The bond hadn’t broken, and now standing in front of him was undeniable proof of just how much he’d ruined the kid’s life.

The boy finally looked up at Bruce. For a moment, the whole world seemed to freeze as blue eyes stared into blue eyes. Then, between one heartbeat and the next, the boy yanked his arm free of this mother’s grasp, then turned and sprinted out of the room.

“Tim!” Janet yelled.

Bruce had already begun to give chase before he could think to stop himself. The boy (Tim!) was quick, but Bruce had already known that. He’d run that night too. He’d made it from one edge of a rooftop to the far end of the next roof over, before reaching a gap he couldn’t jump without a grapple. And even when backed into a metaphorical corner, Tim hadn’t gone down without a literal fight. He’d obviously had some type of martial arts training.

Had his attacker not been Bruce, a man more than twice his size and highly trained in multiple forms of unarmed combat, Tim probably would have escaped that rooftop largely unscathed. Just as if situations had been different now, if there hadn’t been a gathering of people hindering Tim escape, if Tim hadn’t been nine weeks pregnant with a rapidly changing center of gravity, if his running hadn’t played right into the alpha instincts Bruce was trying so hard to suppress, if any of the factors had been different, Tim would have been able to escape Bruce now as he’d been unable to do that night.

But situations weren’t different. Tim lost his balance as he ran around the corner, he managed to keep from falling, but that second of faltering was enough for Bruce catch him. Bruce grabbed the boy’s arm and yanked him towards him while simultaneously pushing the both of them up against a wall. The growl that escaped Bruce’s lips could only be called savage as he lowered his mouth to Tim’s throat.

-

When Tim had finally managed to convince his mother that he wasn’t lying about Bruce Wayne being his alpha, he swore he’d seen her eyes turn to dollar signs. Tim getting pregnant by someone from school was something to be dealt with quickly and quietly so that years down the line, they could pretend it never happened and still fetch a good bride price for him.

But adding Bruce Wayne to the picture changed everything. There was no more talk of discretion and abortions, no more plans of hiding this mistake and finding Tim a new alpha in the future. Because who could pay a better bride price than the richest alpha in Gotham City?

It was all just so ridiculous to Tim. The Drakes, though not billionaires like Bruce Wayne, were already fairly wealthy and didn’t have need for an exorbitant bride price for their son. But that didn’t matter to Janet Drake. She’d seen an opportunity to turn Tim’s stupid mistake into a profit and she’d seized it.

His mother had made her grand entrance to the charity gala she’d initially declined to attend, dragging Tim along behind her and making a beeline for Bruce Wayne with enough dramatics to garner the attention of every journalist in the room. By morning, Tim’s pregnancy would be all over every news outlet Gotham City, after which he would forever be considered used goods and no alpha would ever want him without a hefty dowry. He would be a shame on his family.

A reasonable alpha, having put an omega in this situation, would pay the bride price to marry him. Otherwise they’d also shame their family, though to a lesser extent than the omega. It would be quite the scandal. A scandal that not even the likes of Bruce Wayne could live down. So, if Bruce Wayne was a reasonable man, he would marry Tim and pay whatever price Janet demanded for having ruined her son.

Tim would spend the rest of his life with the man who’d raped him. Tim would have a baby before starting his first year of high school. Chances were, Tim wouldn’t even go to high school. He’d be pigeon-holed into the role of stay-at-home society omega, expected to be pregnant again before their first child’s second birthday and to find fulfillment in raising his children. It was a role Tim balked at. It was so very far from where he wanted his life to go.

Common sense said he shouldn’t run. Chases had been a part of alpha/omega mating rituals since the dawn of time. Running had been the mistake he’d made that night on the rooftop. _Common sense_ said not to run. But Tim was apparently at leave of his senses, because he’d met the alpha’s eyes in a way that could be perceived as challenging, and then sprinted out of the room. Bruce, of course, gave chase.

Tim was caught within five minutes. Thankfully, chases were considered a private ritual between an alpha and omega even if it was done in public, and the gala full of stuffed shirt socialites considered themselves too proper to follow them from the room. They at least had some privacy now.

Tim was grabbed and shoved up against a wall. Bruce’s savage growl reverberated through the hall as his hands moved to Tim’s thighs and lifted him off the ground. Bruce pressed himself between Tim’s spread legs and lowered his teeth to Tim’s neck. Tim’s heart pounded in his chest and the air became thick with the scent of omega distress. He squeezed his eyes closed and waited for the inevitable.

Bruce growled again, a ragged sound that cut through Tim like shards of glass. “You need to calm down,” Bruce said, and the words sounded like they pained him to speak them. His hands on Tim’s thighs gripped tighter and he buried his face in the side of Tim’s neck. “I won’t be able to let you go without biting you if you don’t calm down. I don’t want to hurt you, but my instincts are all over the place. If you don’t get your distress scent under control, I’m going to lose control.”

-

Six months after Bruce had made Dick his ward, Dick had patrolled with him as Robin for the first time. Bruce had been unsure about dragging a child into his crusade, but it was what Dick needed in order to be able to overcome his parents’ deaths. Dick had been determined and Bruce hadn’t wanted to hinder his recovery, so he’d trained the boy as best he could and promised himself to always have his back. The day after Robin’s first patrol, Dick had gone into heat for the first time.

Ten was a remarkably young age for starting heat, so Bruce had taken him to the hospital in case something was wrong. The doctor said it wasn’t uncommon for a young omega who’d lost his family to start his oestrous cycle years before he would have otherwise. It was his body’s way of trying to cope and find stability. “ _Omegas thrive on their relationships with alphas_ ,” the doctor had said, “ _and at the most base level, there’s really only two types of alphas to an omega: an alpha parent and a bonding alpha; one of which is a familial relationship, and the other is a sexual relationship. Dick has lost one type, so he’s trying to attract the other._ ”

Someone who’d been at the hospital at the time had seen Dick in heat and had sold the information to a gossip columnist. Before Dick’s first heat had even ended, the whole world had already imagined him in Bruce’s bed. It seemed like the logical course of events: Bruce was a young virile unmated alpha in his prime, it made no sense that he would tie himself down with a child that wasn’t his own, but that child being an omega changed everything.

As far as the world was concerned, omegas ceased being children after their first heat. Anyone could tell you that sexual attraction to a child was wrong, but when that child presented as an omega, it was suddenly okay. Omegas were meant to be looked at sexually. Sex was the be-all-end-all of an omega’s existence whether they liked it or not. Whether they wanted it or not. Whether they understood what was happening to them or not.

“Omega” was synonymous with “sex.”

That’s not to say alphas were expected to be attracted to underage omegas, just that the ones who were weren’t considered to be pedophiles. Different rules applied to omegas. What would have been considered morally wrong sexual deviance one week would suddenly become perfectly natural the next week, what would have been a crime one week became legal the next, all because the child’s body had decided it was ready for its sexual awakening.

Even the doctor had assumed Bruce would be bonding Dick during the first heat. He advised against impregnating him while Dick was still so young and tiny, but hadn’t said anything against having sex with the ten year old in general. Bruce had never taken Dick back to that doctor again.

When Dick had turned thirteen without being bonded to Bruce, everyone had thought Bruce was just being a gentleman waiting for the boy to grow a bit. When Dick had turned sixteen still untouched, people wondered if there was something wrong with Bruce, maybe he was queer. When Dick moved out and Bruce adopted Jason, an already presented alpha, it was seen as confirmation that Bruce was gay and some of the more bold people even said that Jason needed to be taken away from him. Because sexual attraction to an alpha child was not okay like sexual attraction to an omega child.

Bruce, for his part, had just done what he’d always done: he had a string of beta romances that never lasted long and he constantly flirted with every omega that crossed his path. The truth was, Bruce wasn’t attracted to omegas. He wasn’t attracted to alphas either. And he damn sure was not attracted to children no matter their caste. It wasn’t that uncommon for people to be attracted exclusively to betas, but Bruce wasn’t attracted to betas any more than he was alphas and omegas. Since he was about sixteen years old, Bruce had been pretty sure he was asexual.

Which made the whole situation with Tim worse. The chemical he’d been drugged with had not only robbed him of his control, it had made him act against his nature. He’d never been driven mad by the scent of an omega in heat before, because there’d never been any attraction there except at the most base level. But that night on the rooftop, Tim had smelled like everything Bruce had ever wanted and Bruce had literally been unable to control himself, unable to stop himself. It wasn’t an excuse, it just was the way of things. But this time was different.

Tim’s heart was beating too fast and the amount of distress scent he was emitting would be enough to drive any alpha crazy. Bruce’s inner alpha was fighting to break free. His instincts said his pregnant omega mate was in distress because their bond was too weak and everything would be made better by biting the boy. The logical part of his mind knew that wasn’t the case. Tim was distressed because the same man who’d attacked him nine weeks ago had him pinned against a wall right now, and biting him would only make the entire situation worse.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Bruce said, though his gums itched with the urge to bite. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised. “Just calm down, please.” He was careful not to infuse his voice with alpha command. He’d used alpha command on Tim before. He’d ordered him to stop fighting. Tim had gone limp like a rag doll under Bruce’s hands. All he could do was lay there and cry. Bruce never wanted to do that to him again.

Alpha command wasn’t meant to be used that way. Omegas could get so lost in heat, they would not care about eating or drinking or resting. It was the alpha’s responsibility to take care of them. With a command, an alpha could make their omega do all the things they were neglecting. Misusing alpha command was a crime punishable by up to a year in prison, but it was only illegal when the omega was bonded to someone else and it was almost impossible to prove in court that the crime had taken place.

Tim was crying. Loud broken sobs spilled from the boy’s lips, each hitting Bruce like a knife through the heart. Bruce loosened his hold on the boy’s thighs and gently lowered him to the floor. He stepped away from Tim and looked down at him, his vision blurring enough for him to realize that he was crying too. “I’m so sorry I did this to you. I’m so, so sorry.”

-

They cried until they had no tears left, and Tim was endlessly grateful that no one had stumbled upon the scene. What a picture they must have made: big alpha Bruce Wayne shedding unmanly tears while little omega Tim Drake sobbed his heart out. Tim could only imagine what people might think of it all.

Eventually they pulled themselves together enough to move from the very public hallway to the first private room they could find. They sat across from each other for a long time saying nothing, because neither knew what to say. Until Tim couldn’t take the silence any longer and said the first thing that came to his mind.

“When I was six, my parents took me to the circus. It was kinda their way of trying to make up for the fact that they’d left me with a nanny and went out of the country for three months. Like if they did this one family bonding event, I would forgive them for never being around. Except it backfired, because that night at the circus Dick Grayson’s parents died and I had nightmares about it for months and my parents never noticed.”

Tim paused, licked his suddenly dry lips, then continued, “But it wasn’t all bad. I saw two things for the first time that night that I would never forget. Well, three things if you want to count seeing death for the first time, but it wasn’t the deaths that stuck with me. What stuck with me was seeing Batman, and seeing Dick Grayson perform his special quadruple somersault. I’d been fixated on Dick that entire night. I barely remember any of the other circus acts, because he had all of my attention. And then after Batman helped him, I fixated on Batman, too.

“So, three years later, my parents were actually in the country and I was trying to spend as much time with them as I could by lying on the floor in the family room, playing with toys while they worked and forgot I was in the room. The TV was on in the background and the news was doing a special on Batman because they’d happened upon a security tape of him in action. I watched it intently and imagine my surprise when I saw Robin do a quadruple somersault, something I’d been told only three people in the world could do right before two of those people died. I jumped to the conclusion that Robin must really be Dick Grayson, and from that inferred that Robin’s partner, Batman, must be Dick Grayson’s guardian, Bruce Wayne.”

“You figured that out when you were nine years old?” Bruce asked, something akin to disbelief in his voice.

Tim shrugged it off as if it was nothing. “It was just a theory at the time, but I was pretty convinced of it. So convinced that, the next time my parents left for a business trip, I grabbed my camera, sneaked out the house, and went to find proof. I followed you guys for years. Batman and Robin were my obsession. I followed Dick to New York when he became Nightwing and joined the Titans. Then I came back and followed Jason Todd as he learned how to be Robin. And when Jason died, I followed you.

“I was on that rooftop that night because of you. Because, for years, Batman and Robin had been the only thing that brought any kind of joy into my life. I’d been feeling off all that day, but I didn’t realize it was heat. I thought I might’ve been coming down with something, but I’d chosen to go out anyway because my hero, Batman, was going off the deep end and I wanted to save him. I wanted to save you… but I couldn’t even save myself.”

Tim felt as if he would start crying again, but there were no tears left to cry. He was all dried up inside. Hollow. Empty of everything except regrets and the baby in his stomach that was made of them.

“Tim,” Bruce said solemnly, “there is nothing I can say or do that would even begin to make up for what I did to you, to replace what I stole from you, but I will spend the rest of my life trying, if you are willing give me the chance.”

Tim nodded in acceptance of those words, but took a second to think about what he wanted. “I don’t want to have this baby,” he admitted softly. They were hard words to speak because they went against his very nature as an omega, but it was the truth. He didn’t want this baby. Bruce didn’t want the baby. It wasn’t something that fit into either of their lives. And it would just be a constant reminder of something they both wished to forget. “I want to go to school. Most omegas drop out when they get married, but that’s not what I want to do.”

“Tim, you don’t have to marry me,” Bruce interrupted.

“Yes I do. My mother made sure that was the only choice. If you don’t marry me, I’ll be disowned and your name would be dragged through the mud. And for a while, you’ll be under even more scrutiny than you usually are, which would not make it easy for you to continue on as Batman. So, we’ll be married, but I don’t want a big society wedding. Just a judge in the courthouse should be enough to appease my mother. Well that and whatever ridiculous amount of money she demands as a bride price.”

“Okay,” Bruce conceded, “but it’ll be a marriage on paper only. I don’t expect sex from you, nor do I want it, and I never will. You’ll have your own bedroom in the manor. A room that I will _never_ enter unless there are dire circumstances.”

Tim nodded. “That’s fine, but after the… there’s a certain amount of scenting and bond reinforcing required to stabilize an omega who finds themselves suddenly not pregnant anymore without a baby to show for it.”

To an omega’s biology, there was no difference between a miscarriage and an abortion. The loss of a child could be a death sentence to an omega, especially if their alpha abandoned them at the same time.

There was a reason most doctors chose not to perform an abortion on an omega without their bonding alpha being in the room. The omega needed to be completely flooded with their alpha’s scent in order to ward off what was most commonly referred to as the Anguish. Even an omega who hadn’t wanted their child, who’d voluntarily gotten an abortion, could find themselves losing their will to live in the Anguish, unless they had an alpha to hold on for.

Formerly called Omega Hysteria, the Anguish was characterized by wildly oscillating moods, bouts of depression, fits of irrational aggression, wanton sexual advances toward any alpha within reach, and self-destructive, suicidal or homicidal behavior.

The only treatment for the Anguish was time and an alpha mate to drown their senses to the point it overrode everything else. In some cases the Anguish got so bad that even with an alpha present, an omega had to be constantly sedated to survive the first couple of weeks after a miscarriage or abortion.

“Cuddling and biting,” Bruce agreed. “But once the Anguish passes, there’ll be no more biting. Living in the same household should be enough to maintain our bond by scent alone. It’ll be weaker, but that’ll just mean it’ll be easier to break if one day you want to find a new alpha.”

Tim had nothing to say either way on that. He paused for a second, before adding his final condition. “I’d also like to… that is to say… Batman needs a Robin. You’re not you without one; everyone could see that. You became reckless. You need someone to remind you to slow down and think things through. I’d originally planned to go to New York and ask Nightwing to come back, but since I’m going to be with you from now on anyway…”

“Tim…” Bruce started, but Tim cut him off.

“I used to imagine what it would be like to be Robin when I was younger, the way kids fantasize about being astronauts or policemen. It wasn’t something I really wanted, because it wasn’t something I thought would ever be possible. But I started working out and studying karate anyway. But none of that was enough… I just want to be better able to defend myself, and if I can help people while I’m at it… Batman needs a Robin. It doesn’t have to be me, but you need someone.”

Bruce felt as if he’d give this boy the world on a platter if only he asked for it, but this one thing he was asking for, Bruce could not allow. “I’m sorry, Tim. One boy has already died wearing that costume. I cannot take that risk a third time.”

“Jason’s death is exactly why you need a Robin. Not just because you need someone to make you think before you act, slow down and wonder ‘what could happen,’ but because Batman and Robin are a symbol. Same as a policeman in his uniform is a symbol, Batman and Robin represent something greater than they are. It a symbol of justice, and just like when one policeman dies, others take his place. A new Robin must rise up to replace the one fallen. Because justice can’t be stopped. And because you can’t let criminals go around thinking they can kill someone like Robin. Who would they go after next?”

Bruce pursed his lips. Tim was right. As much as Bruce didn’t want another partner, he’d created Batman to project an image, and he’d succeeded. And though he wished otherwise, Robin was a part of that image.

Bruce nodded solemnly. “You’ll need a lot of training before I even think of taking you on patrol, but for however long you may want it, the Robin title is yours.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have the time, please take a moment to leave a comment.


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